South Coatesville mulls police cuts

SOUTH COATESVILLE —Council revealed it is considering the possibility of cuts in part-time police hours due to a change in the borough’s police agreement with Modena.

South Coatesville’s proposed budget for 2014 shows $83,945 is listed for the part-time police officers, $4,313 more than what was budgeted last year. But the budget also indicated that part-time officers in South Coatesville were paid $82,132 from Jan. 1 to Dec. 2, $2,500 more than what was budgeted for 2013.

Councilman Joe Frisco said he was concerned the borough was budgeting for an amount that can’t be fully determined until arbitration has been finalized.

“We dropped that considerably from what was first proposed and I am concerned that because we don’t know what’s going to develop from the arbitration process, that we are not budgeting enough for the part time officers,” Frisco said.

Advertisement

“We know what we’re paying now. Whatever the arbitrator decides we are going to be required to pay,” he said.

Council President Bill Henson said the borough has looked at that number “very hard” but couldn’t provide much detail because the matter pertains to personnel who are currently in arbitration.

He said another factor to be considered is that the borough shares part-time patrol service with Modena.

South Coatesville entered into an agreement with Modena in 2007, agreeing part time officers in South Coatesville will patrol Modena.

South Coatesville is expected to receive $37,000 from Modena for the police agreement, according to the borough’s preliminary budget.

In 2013, the borough budgeted $35,500, but the year-to-date column indicated the borough only received $24,917 from Modena for those services.

According to Modena Borough Manager Wayne “Ted” Reed, Modena borough council approved submitting a letter to South Coatesville Council Monday, requesting a decrease in part time officer patrol hours.

“We are facing a very big budget crunch and we were looking for ways to cut expenses without cutting services,” Reed said.

He said South Coatesville currently provides approximately two to three hours per day for officer patrol. Modena council requested a cut back time to one and a half hours a day between 8 a.m. and midnight.

The first time the requested information was publicly mentioned was during South Coatesville’s borough council budget meeting.

Henson said the borough will continue to look for ways to reduce expenses without eliminating quality services for residents.

“We are trying to get a budget we can live with. It has to be done that way, there is no other way,” Henson said. “If we have to lose a couple of things here and there, we are going to have to lose them.

“We will hopefully bring things back and rework it, but Modena wants less hours. So we need fewer hours in Modena, then we need less police. That’s all I can tell you,” Henson said at a budget meeting last week. “In a general sense, if we are only covering 8 to 12, then we are covering 8 to 12. We are not patrolling the area longer so we don’t need manpower down there. That’s just the way it’s going to be. “

Henson was not clear in his initial statement if the borough was looking to cut its part-time police force. He later denied making a statement that indicated in a reduction of part-time police.

“In the discussion with (Modena) council, that is something that we never thought about or discussed,” Reed said. “We sort of figured it would knock out a couple of hours a day of (South Coatesville) time.”

Reed said if South Coatesville does not agree to Modena’s reduced time request and wishes to scrap the overall agreement with Modena, the smaller borough would seek other alternatives.

South Coatesville will discuss Modena’s request at the borough meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 10, at 7 p.m.

The Daily Local News submitted a Right-to-Know request to South Coatesville for Modena’s letter to South Coatesville Monday.